There are those days when you find yourself drifting down memory lane, reminiscing about simpler times. When you were a kid, you did not worry about the future, you did not have responsibilities.
'member those good old times?
Usually these recollections are triggered by a smell, tune, place or a person. We tend to remember songs, cartoons, and movies that we enjoyed back then together with the mental state we had back then. So listening to those childhood tunes almost makes me feel like I am a kid again. Such is the wonder of how human memory works.
I have a youtube playlist where I add any such songs - Tamil, Malayalam or English. You might find songs from movies (Hakuna Matata) and even cartoon theme songs. I'll keep updating it. Please comment what songs you find nostalgic, if you are from my generation (95' born) I might discover some new triggers too.
Anyway I hope in this post to catalogue the art that shaped me as a kid. Too many books to list (just off the top of my head - Princess Diaries, Goosebumps, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Septimus Heap, Asterix & Obelix, Tintin, Archie, Sherlock, Artemis Fowl, Bartimaeus Trilogy, The Inheritance Cycle, Harry Potter, Twilight, The Count of Monte Cristo, almost everything by Enid Blyton, Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon, Robin Cook). Just check out my Goodreads shelf.
Without further ado, in no particular order let us start with anime, tv series and (what I called all of them back then),
Cartoons
Alice Academy
Gakuen Alice - remember the cool abilities these kids had? Star ranking system, the invention alice and Howalon candy still remain in my memory.
Avatar The Last Airbender
A masterpiece! suitable for all ages, I woke up at 4 everyday just to watch this. Remember those fish? Tui and La? I loved that arc.
Bakugan Battle Brawlers
Maybe some of you might even have played the card game? I did not, but I did enjoy some episodes. The MC was cool in all these shows.
Blue Dragon
I had totally forgotten both about the existence of this show and how much I loved it! I remember weeping when I missed a single episode. Sadly it got cancelled on January 30, 2009.
Beyblade
Grew up watching this show, battled my friends with these toys too! I remember trying to customize the toy... so much fun, I took it so seriously back then. I guess after pokemon this was the next phase.
Black Jack
It was fascinating how this "kind" doctor demanded obscene amounts of money, my first dark MC. The guy was cool at the end too. It drove the idea that talented people operate by different rules. Insanity vs Eccentricity.
Codename: Kids Next Door
This aired at ridiculous times! I was so happy on the rare times that I got to watch this. The memories of this show are too faint to mention.
Courage the Cowardly Dog
I watched this when nothing better was playing, never been a fan of horror. Thank god for Video on Demand.
Cardcaptor Sakura
Beautifulanimation that fueled my imagination as to what magic should be for years to come! There were nice funny moments too, but I watched this in too fragmented a manner.
Dexter's Laboratory
Another one of those shows that made me look up to scientists! Watched so many episodes of this! The jingle is unforgettable for me even now.
Dragon Ball Z
Goku was the hero any kid would get hyped about. No western cartoon did character development like anime. Master Roshi! Krillen! Also I got so hyped when he trained on the spaceship.
Drake & Josh
Those jokes! This was at the highest of tier right next to Phineas and Ferb. But it is so weird how I remember almost nothing, no arc or story lines... except how much I loved this show.
Flame of Recca
This was another anime I had forgotten about until I was in college and got all nostalgic. Great fight scenes, cool powers. I did not get to watch much.
Gun X Sword
I kept remembering this show faintly. It had such cool fight scenes, advanced tech. I mean just how awesome are swords dropped to your location by satellites!?
Inuyasha
I again only remember glipses of the show. But it was funny and memorable. The necklace which forced him to sit and collecting those shards.
Jimmy Neutron
What a smart dude he was, such cool technology. Back then I thought the graphics was great (now I think its bad CGI) Still loved the show as much as Phineas and Ferb. Did not get to see it as much.
Kim Possible
I love the opening so much! so memorable. I only watched a few episodes of this and it was ok.
Naruto
Naruto is one of the best great starter anime. It was one of the few shows I managed to watch somewhat continously. Remember Lee's fight? Shikamaru? he was so cool... strong cast.
Phineas and Ferb
One of my favourites as a kid, such wacky inventions! Remember Doofenshmirtz? Perry! The theme song is again such a classic. There are gems of songs in this show such as evil love, control and the original SIMP.
Popeye The Sailor Man
This opening is also really memorable! I can't believe this was not enough to make me love veggies lol
Pokemon
Oh I watched so many of these episodes, I had horrible memory for most things even back then, but I knew tons of pokemon evolution trees. Of course the game just took over my life!
Ranma ½
Throwing water on him to change his gender! how original can the japanese get? I remember some really funny gags were there in this.
Totally Spies
"Here we go.... here we go!!" great song. I really loved the kind of gadgets these girls got. I'm also starting to see a pattern in the kind of girls I was "told" was attractive since my childhood.
Tom and Jerry
I don't think this needs any explanation. A true classic, so funny! I remember one episode where Jerry loses his voice due to having a round candy. So many good memories.
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody
Rare case of an asian dumb girl, multiple strong characters. The comedy made this another fav of mine.
Wizards Of Waverly Place
I nearly forgot about this show until a friend reminded me. I did not get to watch as many episodes of this as I wanted but it still makes me reminisce.
Suprisingly I feel like I managed to watch enough arcs of this to have been surprised at some plot twists. Thank you animax for bringing me such great shows!
The Powerpuff Girls
Ah the classic that gave rise to those memes. I loved this quality cartoon a lot.
Scooby Doo
"Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you? ..." Well Daphne was best girl. The movie made the best memes.
Recess
I am sure I watched this but again my memory fails me, no specifics.
Noddy
Wow... I remember the animations being way way more realistic! I can't believe that we have a feeling of continuity of self.
Bob The Builder
Can we fix it?! I swear I just know I used to watch tons of this. My memory is so bad :(
Oswald
They seem to talking so slowly I feel. As a kid it was so perfect.
Pingu
!Wow... I loved that cute white penguin as a kid. There was no dialogues but I still enjoyed it. I never realised it was not animated but that it was puppets. I never thought of it.
Shaka Laka Boom Boom
I swear this is too cringe for me to admit it but I remember how much I loved that pencil. I don't remember knowing hindi but I still watched this somehow.
Takeshi's Castle
Sure not a cartoon, but I did laugh a bit at these. I never thought if they would be feeling pain.
Johnny Bravo
I mention it only cause I remember watching it. I did not really enjoy it.
Ed, Edd n Eddy
So gross and badly animated. As kid I watched whatever was available. Now its all curated content I consume.
I remember thinking they had really smart ways of making do with low tech solutions....
Then there were the movies, Disney movies were the golden standard for movies targeted at children.
Movies
Happy Feet
The songs in this! The crisp animation, great story about those can't fit in.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
This movie combined chocolate with eccentric genius with his own factory filled with advanced technology. I loved it! A must watch.
Aladdin (1992)
Who has not dreamt of getting a few wishes from a genie? The quality of the songs in this can illustrated further by how acapellascience did a brilliant cover on it. A masterpiece.
High School Musical
I remember really enjoying the songs from this.
The Lion King (1994)
Lots of memorable scenes from this movie. So many memes were born from this movie.
101 Dalmatians (1996)
Such an evil women. Only umbridge would compare. Interestingly, I don't think there have been any men who played such roles as well.
Pirates of the Caribbean
Johnny Depp is such a great actor. Great series of movies.
Ratatouille
I got a CD for this movie as a birthday gift. I loved the movie so much! A masterpiece really.
The Incredibles
This was a different take on superheros. Funny and great animation style. This movie also has my fav quote of all time.
Osmosis Jones
This movie stayed with me cause of how awesome the idea was, to imagine the body like that. How fun it would be to learn from a show like this?
The Mask
Damn, it was so funny and the power he got! Awesome movie. Jim Carrey is a godly actor.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
It was a really memorable movie. Ancient civilzations with advanced technology is a rich trope.
Treasure Planet
This was a MASTERPIECE ok? I have no idea why it failed, but it was the best thing ever when I watched it. Super underrated.
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
Great action sequences, that car racing arc. Cool AR based story line. It was pretty compelling.
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
Funny how Macaulay Culkin the kid actor of this movie was likely the richest kid in the world after his home alone success.
The Medallion (2003)
This movie was dope! I loved it so much.
The Mummy Returns (2001)
I remember this Bracelet of Anubis being damn powerful and this kid is not able to remove it. The movie terrorized me with those under skin crawling beetles!
LaMB (2009)
As a kid the way they showed the naked female form here got stuck in my head.
I had a desktop in my house for only a few years before my dad took it away. He did not want me getting addicted to it the way I was addicted to reading. My prized possession was the Game Boy Advance SP. I used to visit my cousin brother and play on his PS2. I remember how after playing for extended periods of time I would hallucinate the pokemon game sound tracks.
Games
Tarzan 1999 (PC)
I definitely remember this being one of the games I played as a kid on my computer.
The Magic School Bus Explores the Solar System (PC)
I think I actually learned tons in a fun via due to this "game".
Road Rash (PC)
I remember being really good at this game! Kicking people, the police busting me. Fun times.
Claw (1997)
"Landlubber", "Scallywag", "Fire sword", "Eat lead!", "Magic Claw", all those phrases are still stuck in my head. I enjoyed this game a lot! It was pretty challenging especially the boss fights.
Pinball (PC)
This was a fun game on my windows system. Minesweeper was too hard for me lol
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2)
Ok. This was my life for a few years. I played as Bruce together with my cousin. Later I had my own character. I LOVED THIS GAME. If I could I would have played this non stop. I did all kinds of stuff, even found the Puff Puff club.
Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, FireRed and LeafGreen, Emerald (Gameboy)
If there was any indication I was prone to obsessing over stuff, this game would be it. I had a Lv 100 Charizard with Blast Burn ok, pokemon competitions? Done. Sevii Islands? Done. Look it was portable, addictive and challenging in a predicatable way. I loved it.
This was a more action sort of game that I enjoyed playing where I did not have to think too much. Live in the moment. I could stop whenever and resume too. No long term planning or strategy like Pokemon. Still played this whole thing to finish.
Bounce 2000 (Mobile)
Back before full touch phones were the norm. I really enjoyed this game. Played a lot of this on my mom's phone. Making it float, shrink and sink. Fun stuff.
Yo Yo (Toy)
Oh I bought a costly metal one, shiny as shown above but with cool holes in them. I could not do much tricks but I did enjoy playing with it. Up and Down.
Beyblade (Toy)
I had fancier beyblades than this. It had a button on the side which if triggered by a collision would cause the toy to accelerate! it was so fun making these things collide and be the last one standing. The anime made it all so much better.
I am sure you all might have watched, played other kinds of stuff. Maybe Kya Mast Hai Life? Sunaina? Shararat? Lady and the Tramp? Johnny Test? Yu-Gi-Oh! Do comment below your treasured memories of your childhood.
